Around the Farm was originated here at Indians Prospect Insider, and takes a quick look at some of yesterday’s performances by Indians’ prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday’s game.

Zach McAllister: SP, Columbus Clippers: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R/ER, 1 BB, 7 K:

McAllister will be playing in the big leagues in August, whether it be for the Indians, or to a team that they’ve traded him to. The bottom line is that this guy is ready to be a major leaguer, and it’s time for the Indians to bring him up. He’s absolutely dominating International League hitting, and over his last six starts, has gone 33 1/3 innings, giving up 23 hits, nine earned runs, 12 walks and 32 K’s. They don’t need to overcook this guy in the minors. Of course, the question is, who do you send down for him to come up? Is it time for a Gomez for McAllister switch, or maybe a six-man rotation?

Nick Weglarz: LF, Akron Aeros: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K:

I’m certainly not ready to even come close to proclaiming Weglarz as back and ready to become a top prospect again. Of course, Weglarz could care a less what I say. He’s starting to show a bit of that promise and explosion that made him a sure thing over the years as he’s climbed through the season. Of course, four games doesn’t a season make, and he’s going to have to last a bit longer than half a week. What a half-a-week it’s been though. Since June 5th, Weglarz has a four-game hit streak in which he’s gone 6-for-14, with five runs, two doubles, two homers, four RBI, three walks and six K’s. The power is what is standing out though, with four extra-base hits out of his six. Could it be that another prospect is ready to reclaim his former perch? Boy, I sure hope so, but I can’t help but think of Beau Mills, who had a much longer run of solid play last year, and now finds himself wallowing in Triple A.

T.J. House: SP, Akron Aeros: 5 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 3 K:

Tony always preaches to me about patience, and with regards to prospects in the system, nobody knows more about them then Tony Lastoria. With that said, my patience with House is gone after only a few starts. He’s done his time in Carolina to the tune of 2+ years. IMO, that should allow him the luxury of a short stay in Akron, and he’s certainly earned it. He dominated again on Saturday night, throwing only 92 pitches in eight innings, with 59 strikes. He induced an incredible 16 ground ball outs vs. only three pop outs. House is healthy, fit, and he’s become a pitcher and not just a guy throwing heat. He needs to make the move to Columbus, and he needs to do it now. Of course, if you move House, what exactly do you do with Steven Wright, who is having an even better season than House. Alright, move them both up and do something with some of the fodder.

Cord Phelps: 2B, Columbus: 2-for-4, 2 2B, RBI: Phelps now has a five game hit streak in which he’s gone 7-for-15, with four runs, four doubles, a homer and two RBI. He’s walked five times, with one strikeout during that stretch. Perhaps Phelps can return to the hot player that he was at the beginning of April.

Jared Goedert: DH, Columbus: 1-for-4: Goedert maintains his hot hand off his four-hit, nine RBI performance, and has gone 8-for-20, with seven runs, two doubles, three homers and ten RBI over a five game stretch.

Tim Fedroff: LF, Columbus: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K: Fedroff is scorching hot in his return to Triple A ball. He’s gotten a hit in all three games, and now is 5-for-10, with two runs, a homer and four RBI. Perhaps he trying to tell the Tribe brass, “I told you so…”

Andy LaRoche: 3B, Columbus: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB: LaRoche is having a bit of a resurgence after struggling for much of the season. In his past three games, he’s gone 5-for-11, with a run, a homer and two RBI.

Gregorio Petit: SS, Columbus: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB: Petit is just over the Mendoza line, and it seems like years since he played for the Tribe against the Carolina Mudcats. He’s minor league fill, and hitting only .209 on the season, and .172 over the past ten games.

Chris Ray: Closer, Columbus: S (10), 1 IP, 1 K: Like Herrmann, this was Ray’s eighth shutout performance out of his last ten. His ERA over that stretch is 1.74, with five saves, seven hits and two earned runs, but he’s walked seven, while striking out nine.

Trevor Crowe: CF, Akron: 1-for-4: Crowe had one of only four hits for Akron on Saturday night, but more importantly, he has a hit in all three games back since coming off the DL. He’s 4-for-9, with a double, an RBI, and a walk.

Chun-Hsiu Chen: DH, Akron: 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 K: Chen now has a five game hit streak, and has gone7-for-18, with two runs and a double. He still only has a homer and 19 RBI, and continues his power-less stretch since being moved to first base and DH.

Loek Van Mil: RP, Akron: W (1-1), 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K: Van Mil is looking like a pretty good arm to have picked up for absolutely nothing. His control has been great, and he’s rolled out a 1.62 ERA over 16 2/3 innings, giving up only ten hits, three runs and four walks, while striking out 17 batters.

Carolina Mudcats offense: Game 1: 3-for-21, 3 BB, 3 K: Holt, Gallas and Toole had hits, but there never was a threat to score in the game one shutout.

Kyle Petter: RP, Carolina: 1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 1 K: Well, Petter wasn’t awesome and he gave up three walks vs. only 1 K, but continued his scoreless streak that has reached 11 1/3 innings over his past six games.

Dale Dickerson: RP, Carolina: 1 1/3 IP, 1 H: Dickerson has been up and down this season, but has maintained a respectable 3.25 ERA this season, and has a 2.45 ERA over the past ten games.

Carolina Mudcats offense: Game 2: 3-for-23, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K: The Mudcats were terrible tonight on offense. Delvi Cid hit a sixth inning home run to at least score, but they were barely better than the first game. Overall, this offense went 6-for-44 on the night. You won’t win any games like that.

Luigi Rodriguez: CF, Lake County: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K: Rodriguez has really come to life over the past five games, with a stretch in which he’s gone 9-for-22, with five runs, three doubles and a triple. He’s got the overall average up to .285.

Nick Bartolone: SS, Lake County: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI: Bartolone has struggled with health this year, and was playing his first game since May 31. It’s hard to gauge where he is right now, but he had a nice game on Saturday night.

Jordan Smith: DH, Lake County: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K: Smith is hotter than a firecracker right now, and has gone 16-for-39 over the past ten games, with seven runs, six doubles, a triple and six RBI.

Jerrud Sabourin: 1B, Lake County: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB: Sabourin isn’t as hot as he was a week ago, but he’s officially one of my favorite player. My hope is that he can find that magic again.

Bryson Myles: RF, Lake County: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K: Myles got his first hit in over a month, and it was an extra base hit. He also made it through the entire game, which is clearly a step in the right direction.

Alex Lavisky: C, Lake County: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI: Lavisky just won’t go away, and while he isn’t scorching right now (8-for-36 in his last ten). He’s hitting enough to be a factor going forward. Hopefully he won’t hit these lulls as he moves from level to level.

Elvis Araujo: SP, Lake County: 2/3 IP, 3 H, 6 R/ER, 3 BB, 1 K: Aroujo got absolutely destroyed in his 2/3 of an inning, making it two bad starts out of his last three appearances.

User Comments

Tony

June 10, 2012 - 10:16 PM EDT

House will/should pitch in Akron the rest of the year.

As for Weglarz, it is good to see him playing better. unfortunately, he is very far off the Cleveland radar. Near impossible to be added back to the roster between now and the end of the season....and since he is a minor league free agent in the offseason, he's sianara.

troy

June 10, 2012 - 10:30 AM EDT

If House continues to get 16 groundball to 3 Fly ball outs I wouldnt worry about the lack of K's

Jim

June 10, 2012 - 9:25 AM EDT

I would consider Van Mil a prospect simply because he has a plus-plus fastball, that has always lacked control. What I'm hearing is that he's always been a bit wishy-washy, throwing with less velocity and getting hit, or throwing with more velocity and giving up walks. Being 7'1" is the unknown, as you mentioned. I don't expect a thing from Van Mil, but he is intriguing, if only because of his height. There could be something there as a player down the road in a supplemental role. Hell det, they're all prospects in the minors in my book. He's definitely not a top 20 or even 30 guy, but there's some potential play there. Imagine that angle...

Not concerned about House's K-Rate, because all indications are that his velocity is still up, and he's still throwing strikes. His BB per 9 remains as good as it's been all season. If he kept throwing out 4 BB outings, with no K's, that would be the concern.

I'm sure Tony can speak to this, but my bet is that he's really focusing on some secondary stuff to acquire that repetition. I have no doubt he's ready, I just don't think they make the move because they have what they want in Columbus right now, and there are pieces there that will make it to Cleveland long before House...not to mention the fact that I believe Wright will be the next starter up.

If House is right though, he may be the top pitching prospect in terms of pure arm in Akron and Columbus.

Thanks Det, for adding Mason. The ONLY reason he didn't make it into yesterday's ATF was because I was literally falling asleep at my keyboard at 2 in the morning when I wrote it.

detdawg

June 10, 2012 - 8:47 AM EDT

Lake County's RHP Madon Radeke has a decent 2.93 ERA for the season, but in his last 2 games, his line is 8.1-4-0-0-1-13, including 4.1-2-0-0-5 yesterday.

Not sure House is ready for a promotion, but he may be the comeback player of the year in the Indians' organization. Have to like what he's doing. Don't know if it's a concern, but his k-rate has dropped over the last few outings.

At 27 yrs old, I don't know if Van Mil is still considered a prospect, but his numbers certainly are prospect-like. And his size may just have required more time get control over his mechanics. Four BB over his last 16.1 innings is impressive for a 7-footer.

Joe

June 10, 2012 - 8:23 AM EDT

It seems as if all the teams are struggling a bit, especially on offence. They are all getting reasonably good pitching but putting up runs is getting to be a real problem. It certainly brings out the lack of hitting (especially for power ) we have, except for perhaps LC. The draft had some intriguing prospects, and to get them signed and playing is a priority. It appears we have another 2 yrs. to wait before any hitter is in a position to help the Tribe. Speaking of help at the top, why is LaPorta on the bench ? We talk about weakness at the bottom of the order, but he sits. He and Chisenhall need to be in there every day.
On a personal note Tony, I am encouraged by Weglarz. Hopefully he is coming around,, finally, and may be we will see him back on the road to Cleveland. I know it's only been a week, but he is starting to put up numbers that had him on track before. Keep raking Nick !!!